With lyrics taut with all the grittiness of a high-noon drama and soundscapes bristling with the arid atmosphere of a cactus-studded panorama, ‘Honey’ is truly endemic of the Red Rum Club sound.
The track was premiered by Chris Hawkins on BBC 6 Music, who said of the track: “it's a scorcher this… Those trumpets! It's an epic guitar banger with brass. Or should it be a brass banger with guitars? And that huge vocal too! The new one getting a first play in the world. That was Honey. Love it!"
The first intoxicating glimpse into the wild-west world in which Red Rum Club call their own and derive their musical mojo, ‘Honey’ is a thrilling slice of trumpet-tracked, punk-punched rock’n’roll. “‘Honey’ is all about meeting and connecting with someone special, and going through thick and thin with them” says frontman Fran Doran of the song’s subject matter, and though delivered with the tenacious tempo of a saloon bar shoot out, lyrically ‘Honey’ too contains all tender qualities that could lace a final serenade at sunset.
Recorded at the infamous Parr Street Studios in Liverpool (with a little added production from Chris Taylor), the Scouse sextet set a precedent to create a ‘short, hooky tune’ to welcome listeners to their world of distinctive bandito blues and Alamo allegro.
’Honey’ initially formed around a simple synth-line created by RRC’s Mike McDermott on a second-hand synthesiser. With the words inked-in around the melody by chief-lyricist Tom Williams and the insertion of those ‘Tarantino’-esque trumpets, all was left was for frontman Fran Doran to lay down his signature guttural vocal gusto.
Epic and elegant, anthemic yet accomplished, sweet though with a faint wisp of sadness, ‘Honey’ is a microcosmic glimpse into the widescreen world that awaits in their debut long-player in early 2019.
Watch this space for the second instalment to be revealed in the coming weeks…